Improvement in reversible latches



H. s. PoMEEoY.

REVERSIBLE LATCH. No. 186,161. Patented Jan.9,1877.

. 77527168868. .lm/n/or MPEYERS, FHOTO-LITHOGRAPHER. WASNINGYDN. D C.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HIBAM S. POMEROY, OF NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT.

lMPROVEMENT IN REVERSIBLE LATCHES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 186,161, dated January 9, 1877; application filed November 18, 1876.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, HIRAM S. POMEROY, of the city and county of New Haven, and State of Connecticut, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Reversible Latches; and 1 do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use it, reference being bad to the accompanying drawing, which forms a part of this specification.

My invention is an improvement in that class of mortise-latches which are operated by a thumb-piece attached to a handle and put through the door, the object of the invention being to make the latch reversible.

The invention consists, first, in making fulcrums on opposite sides of the latch-case, on the front edges of the apertures through which a detachable lever passes to operate the mechanism second, in the novel construction of the detachable lever; and, third, in the combination of some of the elements of the latch, which are hereinafter more fully set forth and claimed.

Figure 1 is a side view of the latch. Fig. 2

,- shows the principal elements of the latch in position. Fig. 3 is a view of the latch-bolt, showing the groove in the same and the spiral spring in the groove. Fig. 4 is a view of the detachable lever.

A is the latch-case, which is made in three parts, the front end or face-plate and the two pieces inclosing the mechanism and held together by a screw, one of the two pieces being riveted to the face-plate. The case has two apertures on its opposite sides or edges, and near its inner end on the front edges of these apertures the projecting ribs \a and b are formed, which ribs serve as fulcrums,on which the detachable lever B turns.

The latch-bolt C has its inner end made wide enough to fill the inside of the case, and this widened part is formed on one side of the latch-bolt, thus making room for the lever B, as shown in Fig. 2. On the end of this widened part the projection 0 is formed, against which the lever B acts to draw back the latchbolt. A groove is formed in the latch-bolt to make room for the spiral spring, as shown in Fig. 3. One end of the spiral spring bears against the latch-bolt, and the other end bears against a stud in the case, which is not shown in the drawing.

The detachable lever B, Fig. 4, has its larger part, 0, slightly curved. The part at makes an acute angle with the curved part e, and the part a runs nearly at right angles to the larger and curved part. The angle at a: is made to fit on the like fulcru ns a and b, and the part m coming against the inside of the case, as shown in Fig. 2, the lever cannot be withdrawn except by a backward and upward movement, the action of the latch-bolt preventing its backward movement and holding the lever in the case.

To reverse the latch, push back the latchbolt and hold the same, while the detachable lever B is withdrawn from one aperture in the ease and put in the other.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The like fulcrums a and b, projecting from opposite sides of a latch-case, immediately in front of the openings through which the lever B passes, substantially as shown and described.

2. In a reversible latch, the detachable lever B, consisting of the curved part a, the part m, making an acute angle with the curved part c, and the part 4%, running nearly at right angles to the curved part, adapted to turn at the angle at on either fulcrum a or b, as re quired, and held in the latch case by the mechanism of the latch, substantially as shown and described.

3. In combination with the latch-bolt C, the detachable lever B, made as described, and adapted to turn at the angle a: on either fulcrum a, or b, projecting from opposite sides of a latch-case, as required, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

HIRAM S. POMEROY. Witnesses:

GEoEeE TERRY, ROGER M. SHERMAN. 

